


New Places, New Faces

by ImSecretlyANinjaTimelord



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adolescent Sexuality, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV First Person, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-25 23:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4980370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImSecretlyANinjaTimelord/pseuds/ImSecretlyANinjaTimelord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jiraiya is a troubled youth who had moved around a lot, affecting him greatly.  This is how finally settling in at one place with people who like him and who he likes had a good impact on him.  But bliss can only last so long before tension boils over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Private School Sucks](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/149869) by Furofushi. 



New Places, New Faces  
Chapter One

“Huh…” I thought to myself, “I don’t remember that part…” I sat up to listen more closely to the music booming from my stereo only to see my parents stood at my door. I mentally laughed at myself before looking up at my Mum and Dad. “Err… yeah?” They walked in. My father’s arm hung around my mother. We shared the same prematurely white hair, and like all the men in the family; red facial tattoos, which are unfortunately defining. He was tall, well built, something else I would inherit when I got older. My mother, on the other hand, was a small, delicate woman, but she was both physically and mentally strong. “What do you want?” I asked, then my mother sat beside me.

“Jiraiya, we have some news for you.” She spoke softly.

“What?” I snapped. I was getting impatient. My mum started stroking at my hair, and from that moment, from the instant she laid her hand on the tangled mess that was my hair, that she was trying to tell me some bad news.

“Honey… we’re moving house….” 

“What?! What the fuck!? No way! Not again!” I yelled.

“….. in a weeks time.” She finished.

“Fuck off! Do you hate me or something? I’m not moving again!” I fell back off onto my bed, turning away from my mother. “Wait… a week? How did you get a house and sort a move in a week!?” 

“Wel-” My mother soft voice was interrupted by the intimidating voice of my father.

“Because it was one thousand percent more efficient to do this behind your back.” He sighed, leaving my room without another word.

My mother moved closer, and began rubbing my back. “Jiraiya, there are too many bad influences around here! Those friends of yours! You curse, and that is something we have never done in this house! You have no respect, for anyone! You always get into fights! The headmaster calls me way too often! Your grades are awful, and I don’t think you have any friends your own age. This will be good for you. I promise.” She was only trying to make me feel better, and hindsight is a wonderful gift. I wish I hadn’t yelled at her.

“This is shit! It fucking sucks!” I sighed, “Whatever…”

“Fine!” She got up and started away. “I tried, Jiraiya. I guess your father can deal with you.”

“Shit.” That was the only thought in my head for too long after that threat. I mean, it’s not like my dad was abusive or anything, but he always knew how to throw his weight around. He could be really scary, especially to an angry, confused and confusing teenager.

I lay on my bed, silently. On a bed, in a room. A room that was no longer mine, my stereo still playing crappy music, which, at that moment, only served to irritate me. We had moved four times already. We moved when I six, a major move over to the other side of the country. I didn’t fit in too well and never really made any friends. I became really shy. We moved again shorty before my eighth birthday, out of the Fire Country completely to the Land of Waves. I was bullied for a while, and started getting into a lot of fights as a result. About two and half years later we made another move, but this time around it wasn’t so bad. I made friends, hell, I had a best friend: Tsunade. It was great. Then she moved. About 3 years later, during Easter of third year. Then the next year we moved again, what my parents promised was the final move. I was angry with my mum and dad for it, so things really went downhill. I lost all interest in school, staring hanging around with a bunch of seventeen year olds, who encouraged me how to fight and taught me how to take a punch.

“Jiraiya! Get down here.” My heart almost burst out my chest as I heard my dad call up to me. “JIRAIYA!” I jumped up as he called the second time, but never made to move. It took me a minute before I decided it would be a good idea to move, and even when I did, it was slow.  
He was stood by the living room window, looking out to the garden, and my mother who was pottering about in the flowerbed.  
“Dad?” I was very quiet, to the point I think he didn’t hear me, but then he turned, slowly, an angry look in his eyes. As he stared to walk towards me, all I could do was look down at my toes nervously tangling with the fibres of the rug underneath my feet. He couldn’t have stopped any closer to me without touching me.  
“I am not a pushover, like your Mother. I’ll say this once, Jiraiya: We are moving, and you will be happy about it. If I have to drag you by your fucking hair, I will boyo.”  
I turned around and stormed off, and once I was far enough from my father, I shouted back. “You will have to!” All he had to do was take a single step to send me running to my room. 

That week was the quickest passing of time I have ever experienced. Before I knew it, my room was empty, the car and moving van were full and we were leaving. The only slow part was telling the people I had thought of as friends for the last two years. It wasn’t emotional, it wasn’t a difficult parting. It was a punch, which led to a black eye and the four of them laughing at the thought of me; thinking that they would miss me, or be even a little upset by my leaving. I am such a wonderful judge of character you see. So when it came time to leave, to actually get in the car and go, I was actually kinda glad.


	2. Moving Day

A rough bump knocked my head against the window and woke me from my apparent nap. My parents were sitting in quietly, contently listening to some old people radio station. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up. “Where are we?” I croaked.   
“We’re about half an hour away.” One of my parents responded, but before I knew it, I’d fallen asleep again.

The slamming of the driver and front passenger doors roused me again. It seemed we had arrived. My mother was opening the front door when she gestured to me to come in. “Jiraiya, come see your room.” There was perhaps a little too much glee in her voice for my irritated mood. I followed her in and up the stairs, dragging my feet the whole way. “Here we are!” She said, just as cheery as before. She opened the door to a very small… I wouldn’t have described it as a room so much as a large closet. Inside was a sofa, a TV, with a console and a ladder. The ladder, at that point, was not on my radar as I looked directly into my mothers’ eyes, with a look of thorough disappointment.  
“What is this? Where am I meant to sleep; meant to put my stuff?” I was a very dumb kid.  
“Jiraiya…” She pointed to the ladders, “What do you think that is?” And climbed the ladders, I followed sheepishly. The result of an attic conversion; before me was a fairly spacious room, with a nice little window box. I tried to envision what it would look like with my things in place.   
“So… do you like it?”   
“Yeah, I guess it’s cool.” I mumbled, trying to hide my satisfaction.  
“Good!” She beamed. “Let’s get unloaded then.”

It took the rest of that day to get all our furniture into the house with the help of the movers, and then we spent the following day emptying the boxes; fitting our life into the new house. My parents took a walk to find a good local takeout in the evening, leaving me alone in the strange new building. I wandered around, still unsure of the place, opening doors and closing them again, not really sure what I was looking for, or what I was hoping to find. Everything seemed so clean and sterile, even my room did. It wasn’t much of a retreat or refuge yet, but it was where I went. I sat, on my sofa in silence; too lazy to climb the ladder, too lazy to turn on the TV. Now I’d been given the time to think, I realised this was, perhaps, a new chance for me. I’d always wanted to be a fitness trainer or a physiotherapist, and after the last year of bad grades, maybe I could make it up, get the right grades and prove myself before the exams, since I’d been doing so badly in the assessments. Perhaps I could make something of myself; perhaps I could make my parents proud after all. My mother shouting up the stairs brought me back from my thoughts.   
I joined my parents at the newly erected dining table, my mother deciding that moving house was a fabulous excuse to buy a new one, and looked at the bowl of curry placed before me. It smelled fantastic. We ate in an uncomfortable silence; I had the feeling that my Mum and Dad were hiding something.  
“I-is something wrong?” I tried. To no response and we sat in silence once more.  
“We have a meeting at your new school tomorrow.” My dad said.  
Great, they assumed me so immature and such a shitty kid, that I didn’t want to deal with or expect that I’d have to go to a new school. “Well, I assumed as much.” No response again. “I was thinking, maybe I could try this time.” No response. “Fine, I’ll just dick about some more then!” I yelled and ran to my room.  
I sat on my bed, looking at my hands. There was too many little scars and nicks for a kid my age. I’d had too many broken bones in my life. I’d been in too many fights. I was so much of a disappointment that my own mother and father didn’t even believe me when I said I would try. I remember crying that night. So ashamed of myself, hating the person I was, unsure of how my life would end up. Then, as I lay in my bed trying to sleep, I was just angry… with my parents, with everyone…

I woke the next morning to the sounds of steps on my ladder. It was my mother trying to delicately sneak into my room, to leave some nice clothes in my bedroom. Like only a mother could, she noticed I was awake, or I think she did. “I hope you were serious last night baby.” She whispered as she hovered at the foot of my bed. Then she left again. I got out of bed when I heard the door below close behind her. The clothes she’d left were typical, nice, neat and smart casual. A new pair of jeans, bought specifically for this occasion, and a white dress shirt, actually bought a few months ago for the start of the new school year, but it could have been brand new for how little I’d actually worn it. After getting washed and dressed, I headed down to my parents sitting at the breakfast table, evidently waiting for me.   
“Good morning honey.”  
“Hey mum.”  
And that was our morning greeting. My dad turned around to inspect me, completely disappointed once more. “Can’t you even put on nice clothes properly?” He chided me. “Your clothes are brand new, how can you manage to look so untidy in new clothes?” I sat down, picked up a slice of dry toast from the rack and took a single bite. I sat head down, and ignorant to everything else until it was time to leave.


	3. First Encounter

Chapter Three First Encounter

We pulled into the parking lot. At the far end, an old building, it looked like a castle. Surrounding the old architecture, were newer builds, deliberately subtle so as not to distract from the design of the old. The old building was mainly an administration building, the main entrance in all its grandeur. We headed in, at sat at the reception desk was a plump and pleasant woman, Hana-san. She was always nice to me, I wonder if she still works there…   
“Hello! Welcome to the Konoha School for Boys, how can I help?” Hana smiled.  
“Good day.” My father smiled. He was a warm and friendly man when not thinking about the disappointment that he had for a son. “We are here to meet with the Headmaster; the lad here will be starting school here tomorrow.”   
“Well, let me be this first to welcome you…” That smiled never left Hana’s face, I swear.  
“Jiraiya.” I peeked out from behind my father to introduce myself.   
“Jiraiya! Lovely! Welcome Jiraiya-kun! Let me call through.” She picked up the phone, informed the man on the other side of our arrival, and directed us to the reception waiting area. We weren’t sat for very long before footsteps could be heard coming down the corridor. A tall, older man appeared; he looked very dignified with his styled white hair and matching goatee. Beside him, a slender girl, pale skinned with dark hair and very unusual and pretty eyes.   
“Hello.” The voice certainly matched the face. “The Hiroyuki family, I presume?”  
We stood. “Yes. Saratobi-san?” My father asked and the Headmaster nodded. “Please call me Ogata, this is my wife, Yasuko-san and out son, Jiraiya-kun.”   
“Ogata-san. Yasuko-san. Jiraiya-san.” He shook the hand of each of us. “Allow me to introduce Orochimaru-san; he is here to be a sort of liaison for young Jiraiya.” The world stopped when Saratobi-sensei said ‘he’. I died inside a little from the sheer embarrassment of both mistaking him for a girl, and mentally complimenting his pretty eyes. I complimented his pretty eyes! “Orochimaru-kun, would you take our new student a tour of the school while I speak with his parents?” The boy said nothing; he nodded, grabbed my arm, and led me away, the three adults waving as we walked away.   
The morning interval was just passing when we pulled up to the building, so the halls were mostly empty and the classrooms mostly full. We had walked through the science, languages and home economics departments. We were heading through the canteen when Orochimaru decided we should sit and talk.  
“So, Jiraiya-kun, would you mind if inquire what happened to your eye?” He was so formal.  
“Oh…” I turned red, having to admit to being in a situation of my own doing that meant I’d taken a punch to the face. “I… Someone punched me…”  
“Why? What did you do to incur such wrath?” He was so forward.  
“I didn’t do anything! I told my friends I was leaving, and one of them punched my face after laughing in it!” I yelled, angry at being accused and straightaway labelled as a trouble maker by someone who didn’t even know me! Instantly regretting me decision to bear all to the complete stranger before me, I quickly covered my mouth and hung my head. There goes that first impression, I thought, as we sat there in silence and shame.  
“Not great friends then?” He said as he got up, “Let’s continue the tour.” We headed out of the canteen and up the stairs, he pointed out the library and a small number of empty study rooms. “Should you ever find yourself looking for me, you will probably find me here.”   
The rest of Orochimaru’s tour went by in a haze; I was still reeling from shouting in his face about being punched. We found ourselves at the reception with Saratobi-sensei.  
“So, Jiraiya-san, are you looking forward to starting on Wednesday?” Saratobi-sensei asked.  
“Yes sir.” He handed me a few pieces of paper, it was an option form. “Some of your classes clash here, so if you’d like to pick which ones you’d take with our timetable. Try to bring it in before 12 tomorrow so we can have your timetable ready for Wednesday morning.” He smiled at me. “Orochimaru-kun will meet you at the gate on Wednesday to help you on your first day.”

“What did you think, Jiraiya?” My mother asked as we were getting into the car.  
“Yeah, seems like a good school.” I said quietly. “I do mean what I said yesterday… I don’t want to be a piece of shit Mum… I’ll make something of myself.”  
My mother looked proud for a moment, she was even about to say something until my father butted in. “Words don’t mean shit Jiraiya. Pass an exam or even a test. Study! Then I might believe you, until then, I don’t care what you say. Until then, you’re just wasting the life we gave you.”  
Tears were building up in my eyes, but they were tears of anger. With my father having an attitude like that towards me, no wonder I didn’t believe in myself, no wonder I didn’t care what happened to me. He already thought I was useless. “Fuck you Dad!” I yelled. I was so glad we were in a moving car, if I’d said that to his face that day, he would have knocked my head clean off my shoulders with just a look. My mum sat there in silence as both my father and I sat in a silent rage. The closer we got to home, the more scared I was of getting out of the car. The looming threat in front of me was just getting angrier at me and I could feel it. We pulled into the drive and he didn’t move to get out. He sat there. I moved slowly, quietly opening the door, taking the lightest steps around the back of the car, but as I was coming round, he got out.   
He turned to me. I kept walking toward him, like a game of chicken, willing him to shout in my face, or make me feel small just by looming over me.  
He lifted his hand, to point at me I thought. Then he slapped me so hard across my face. “As long as you live in my house, you will show some respect. If I ever hear you mutter another curse word in my presence again, I will kick you out, so help me god!” And he went in.  
I stood there. Just stood there. My face stinging. He hit me. He actually just slapped me. I ran to my room as fast as I could. Hating my father more and more with every step. I threw myself down hard on my sofa, and was about to let myself cry when there was a knock on my door. My mother popped her head in.  
“Baby…” I couldn’t respond for fear of my voice faltering. “He loves you. He’s just frustrated, same as you. These have been a rough couple of years, for everyone. Prove him wrong, and remember that he loves you.”  
“I’m not so sure Mum.” I said.  
“Well, how about you go get changed and freshen up, you have a visitor popping by in about half an hour, okay?”  
“Okay…” I smiled. I hated my mum thinking I was angry, even if I was, I didn’t want her to know, didn’t want her to worry. 

As my mother had said, half an hour later I heard the door go. She shouted up that she was sending my guest up and I listened for the footsteps. No idea who it could be, I opened the door and got the best surprise of my life; Tsunade!


	4. Old Friends

Chapter Four Old Friends

The girl stood at our door turned to face the car as we pulled up. It was Tsunade, I could barely believe it. I got out of the car as fast as I could, injuries permitting. Her eyes widened as they fell on me.

"Hey, Tsunade!"

"Oh my God! Jiraiya, I can't believe how tall you are!"

She locked her arms around my neck and hugged me tight. I wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged back. She let go, pulling back to stare to my face. As my father got out of the car, he closed his door and closed mine, happy to see me reunited with my best friend.

"What happened to your face?"

"Ah, I'm sick of that story." I sighed. Tsunade laughed. I hugged her again, "I missed you, like, so much!"

"D'aww!" She teased, "You big softie!"

"Just don't tell anyone else." I laughed, "Come see my new room." I gestured to the house and started in, Tsunade following behind me. I collapsed on the sofa, roughly, hurting myself yet again. She sat beside me, slouching comfortably, like we hadn't been apart for years.

"Just tell me what happened to your face!" The blonde insisted.

"Fine, but it's not just my face." I laughed, slightly proud of my battle scars. I took my top off, displaying my skinny figure, displaying the bruises and cuts littered all over my torso.

"Jeez!" She took a sharp breath before lightly running her finger tips over me. Tsunade looked kind of shocked , but then smiled when she noticed that I was smiling. My ribs were an insanely deep shade of purple. "Third time lucky: What the hell happened to you Jiraiya?"

"I got jumped on the way home from school…"

"What? You have never been the type to be beaten in a fight! Who were they?"

"It was just some guys. I didn't really expect them to attack me though."

"Why?"

"They were supposed to be my friends."

"Oh… some friends!" I slightly smiled at Tsunade and replaced my top.

"So how have you been? We haven't see each other in like 4 years, or something!"

I laughed. "Yeah, it's been ages! I've been good. Although my mom said that we moved so I would have you as a friend again!"

"Yeah?!"

"Yeah, she said something about my attitude, but I don't really listen to her!"

Tsunade's smile shrunk, and then grew again.

"What about romance, you're a good looking guy, bet you've left some girl heartbroken?"

"Nah, I laughed, no chick there ever really took my fancy."

"Wait..." Tsunade paused, "Was that you telling me you're gay?"

"What!" I snapped! "No!"

"Oh! Sorry."

"Why'? Do you think I'm gay?"

"No! It was just in case. Why are you so touchy about it anyway?"

"I'm not!"

She left the subject there. I didn't really want to talk about shit like that with her, or anyone for that matter.

"What about you Tsunade? Have you done anything interesting?"

"Not really, but when I finish school I have a secured place at medical school! I'm super chuffed!"

"Cool! That's great! And your love life?"

"Nothing to exciting. I recently started seeing this guy, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere and Ako-chan asked me on a date so I'm going out with her tonight."

"… 'Her'?… a girl?" I checked.

"Yeah! You got a problem with that?"

She scared me when she was angry! I didn't even mean to make her mad! "No! It's cool!"

I half laughed and half nervously chuckled. The subject made me uncomfortable. As to why, I wasn't sure.

For about 2 hours Tsunade and myself sat and remember all the good old times. All the games we used to play. At one point we were crying with laughter, it felt good to be able to do that with someone, I hadn't done it in a long time.

When Tsunade decided she had overstayed her welcome, it was about 8 pm, and the sun was all but gone.

"Hey, Jiraiya?" She sounded serious all of a sudden.

"Yeah…?"

"A few of my friends are gonna be in your year, wanna meet them, you know, so your not totally alone?"

"Yeah… sure."

"Well I have some things I gotta do before I go to bed for the night so I better get home. It's in-service for the next 2 days so I'll be over around 1-ish an' we'll go, 'kay?"

"Yeah… I guess!"

There was no way I was getting up that early! I walked Tsunade to the end of the drive and gave her a hug goodbye and she headed home.


	5. Meeting Him Again

Chapter 5: Meeting Her Friends

 

I woke to sudden light and weight being thrust upon me. Something was on my stomach, and they had the audacity to open my curtains, to allow light onto my untainted eyes. "Arrgh!… It burns… close the curtains!…" I moaned through a yawn, throwing an arm over my face in a pathetic attempt to shield my eyes. "What the fuck is on me? I can't breathe!" I questioned, realising the burning in my lungs. Ii tired to open my eyes again, and when I could finally see, there was a horribly cheery blonde girl holding me in place. "What the hell? Tsunade? What're you doing? I can't breathe, get off you fat bitch!"  
Tsunade's eye twitched, her face getting redder by the second and I was suddenly scared for my life.  
"Err… Tsunade? I didn't mean it!"  
"You better have not! Baka! Yaro!"  
"I'm sor-" Tsunade had the strongest right hook ever! And her fist had just collided with my face reminding me of that fact.  
"Ouch! What the hell! You burst my nose!"  
"Sooo… you called me fat and called me a bitch!"  
"I was joking!"  
"Soo…" Tsunade sighed, "Sorry, I shouldn't have hit you."  
"That's okay! But why are you on my stomach?" Tsunade pointed to my clock and slid off me, perching herself beside me comfortably.  
"Ooopps…" It was 1:40pm  
"Yeah, 'Ooopps'." I rolled out of my bed, forgetting that all I had on was a pair of rather tight boxers. I hurried to the bathroom to get ready. I emerged looking , messier than when I had went in, throwing on whatever I found, no matter how crumpled.  
"You are so skinny Jiraiya!" I looked at Tsunade an smiled. I grabbed favourite kimono top from over my chair and began to fiddle about with the green braiding and ties when I put it on. After a short while I got fed up and tied it loosely around my hips, then put on my canvas slips.  
"So is that you ready?"  
"Yeah."  
"What about breakfast, don't you wanna eat?"  
"No, I don't eat all that much." I laughed and headed down my stairs.  
"You coming Tsunade?" She smiled and nodded and ran over to me. We both headed out of my room and when I reached the landing I shouted to my parents, letting them know I was going out, and that I'd be back late. I got out of the house before Tsunade, so I waited at the bottom of the drive for her.  
"So who we going to see? And where?" Tsunade slowly appeared beside me.  
"We'll go see Genma first, and he's this way." She pointed and I walked, with Tsunade following, in the direction she had just pointed. We had been walking for around 20 minutes before we reached Genma's drive, where Tsunade turned to look at me.  
"You didn't clean your face very well this morning."  
"Huh?"  
Tsunade ran her thumb under my nose and held it up. It was covered in blood from when she had burst my nose earlier that morning, well, that afternoon. I wiped my nose and Tsunade led me up the drive and rattled on the door. Sleepily, Genma opened it and his eyes lit up when he looked at me. It was fucking scary, and it creeped me out more than Orochimaru!  
"Hey Gen! How are you?" She hugged the brunette, who had a senbon sticking out of his mouth.  
"I'm good honey, who's this?" He gestured to me and made a pervy gestured with his eyebrows.  
"Heh, that's Jiraiya, he's gonna start in your year on Thursday."  
"Oooh… good!" He made the same pervy gesture with his eyebrows again, then asked us into his home. Without hesitation, Tsunade took lead Genma's to go in and I had to follow.  
"I'll be right back, I'm gonna put some clothes on."  
"Kay!" Tsunade smiled and the weirdo ran up to, where I guessed, would be his room.  
"Okay…" I whispered, "He is seriously freaky!"  
"Oh yeah, I probably should have mentioned this earlier: he's an open kind of guy, if you know what I mean."  
"What! And you brought me here?!"  
"Yeah, sorry, and to make matters worse, I think it's pretty obvious he likes you." My eyes widened in shock. Then, when the idea fully registered in my mind, my jaw dropped and I sat, eyes popping out of my head, unable to say anything.  
"Why are you blushing?"  
"I'm blushing?!" I couldn't have been blushing, I had no reason to be blushing! Tsunade was laughing. "I'm not blushing! I'm mortified.”  
"Of course not!” She teased  
"Shut it Tsunade!" Tsunade laughed and looked at me questioningly.  
"You honestly don't see it do you?"  
"See what?" Tsunade laughed again, what was so funny?   
"You are so naïve sometimes Jiraiya!" I had no idea what Tsunade was talking about. I wasn't naïve or stupid! I just couldn't read other peoples minds!  
"Back!" Genma ran down the stirs an plonked himself next to me.  
"Miss me?" He purred suggestively at me.  
"Err… Sure?"  
"Awww… How sweet." Tsunade laughed as I got redder. I shot daggers at her and that wiped the smile off her face. We sat for about 20 minutes before Tsunade realised how uncomfortable, and still confused, I was and made up an excuse so we could leave.  
We met two more of Tsunade's friends that day: Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka. I wasn't in the guys house fifteen minutes before Shikaku was on my knee trying to cop a feel. We left abruptly. Tsunade couldn't stop laughing at me all the way to Inoichi's place. All the way she had insisted I had enjoyed it, that she had spied a semi in my pants. She didn't or I wouldn't admit to it then at least! The last kid, Inoichi was kinda cool, if a bit quiet. He didn't manhandle me or come on to me, so it was alright sitting in his place. We talked about school and the classes I had chosen. It was a fun afternoon. We left Inoichi's place around 6:45pm and went to chill at Tsunade's place.  
"Heh! Shikaku gave you a semi!"  
"No he didn't! And would you stop with that already?" She laughed and I went kind of pink, the whole sex thing made me uncomfortable. Once we got to hers, we made some instant ramen and lay claim to the living room.  
“Hey, where is your Mom and Dad?” I asked, noting the distinct lack of anyone else in the house.   
“Oh, it's Monday, so they go to Tennis, it's nice to have the piece and quiet.” She mused.  
For the rest of the night, we lay on the sofa, poking fun at each other and laughing, it really was like no time had passed between us.   
She had gone to the bathroom when I noticed the time. "Hey Tsunade, I gotta go now!"   
"What! No way! I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" She yelled unceremoniously while still on the toilet.   
"Maybe yeah, I dunno though."  
"What?!" She protested, “It doesn't matter, I'm coming to see you anyway!” And she appeared from the bathroom. A tight hug and then she let me leave. I prayed to god I wouldn't get lost in the dark

 

Next Chapter: Meeting Him Again


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Meeting Him Again

Tsunade's door closed with a bang and a cold shiver ran down my spine; it was after 8:30 at night, we were well into the year and I had no coat. Another thought dawned on me then: I had to be home in 10 minutes, and I had no idea how long it took to get to my house from where I was. Against better judgement, I had decided that taking shortcuts I wasn't really sure were shortcuts might get me home in time, but I was never really a lucky kid. Halfway down one particularly long and dark alleyway a group of bulky guys were stood, only visible from the light of the cigarette they were smoking. The closer I got, I could smell something sweet and sickening in the air. Weed. Putting two and two together, I reached a rather obvious conclusion; there was four guys, and one cigarette being passed between them, only it wasn't a cigarette, it was a joint.

"Hey kid." One of them tired to get my attention as I passed. "Wait up!" He called after me.

"Kid, come on." Another began talking to me. Then I could hear them begin to follow after me, and it didn't take them long to catch up. A large hand grabbed my arm, and my heart was in my mouth. I broke into a run and kept going, until, turning a corner, I ran into someone. Literally. I banged my head against theirs and we both went down. Long dark hair and a slim figured looked back at me. Oh shit, I realised I had just landed on a girl!

"I-I'm sorry Miss!" I stammered out.

"Miss?" The familiar, and not very feminine voice came. "Jiraiya?"

I couldn't place were I'd heard that voice until I was roughly pushed to the side, and they stood up, into the reach of a street light. "Orochimaru?" if it wasn't for the cold, my cheeks would have blushed. "H-hey."

He rubbed his hip and looked at me, "You have a seriously jagged dick, you know?"

"What?!" My face was bright red now. I realised in the back of my mind that, being a teenage boy who thought he was lying on top of a pretty girl, I had become somewhat erect. "Don't get ahead of yourself, it was my phone!" I lied.

"Okay." Orochimaru accepted, although obviously still not believing me.

"Hey, this is going to sound stupid..." I stared, nervously. "... I'm lost. Can you help me get home?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yes, alright." Orochimaru said with a smile.

As we walked, Orochimaru stayed mostly silent. At the time, I hadn't really noticed, I just talked about me and was happy to hear my own voice. It wasn't until looking back on it that I ever noticed how quiet Orochimaru was that night.

We turned the corner onto a new street, and I recognised it. "Hey! Is this my road?" I asked, looking at my phone, it was almost five to nine, I was ten minutes late.

"Well observed." He said with a small smile.

"I'm awesome!" I boasted, forgetting that I had to be led here. We walked up the street, stopping at my drive. "So, this is me." He went to leave without saying a word, and I grabbed his arm. "It's not even late, are you going home?" I asked.

He looked at me, almost as if he was completely confused. "What?" His voice was small.

"You don't have to!" I laughed, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly, "No one wants to be stuck with the new kid, but you were nice enough to walk me home." I smiled.

"If your parents are alright with it, I have an hour before I need to be home anyway." Orochimaru followed awkwardly behind me. I tried to be quiet. To sneak in and pretend I had been in my room, but it wasn't to be. As I opened the door, my father was coming out of the bathroom. I have never seen rage bubble so quickly.

"Jiraiya, send your friend up to your room, I want a word before you go up."

He could barely hold back his seething rage. Shit. Fuck. God-fucking-damn! "Yeah, alright Dad, I'll just be a minute." I told him, being overly polite in front of Orochimaru.

I showed Orochimaru up to my room and slowly made my way down to my not so patient father. He was waiting at the bottom of the stair. I gulped. He stepped back, giving me just enough room to walk. Once we were both in the living room, he calmly shut the door behind him, and sighed.

"Jiraiya." He was quiet. "I gave you a curfew."

"I know." I couldn't look at him.

"So, if you know, why were you late?"

"I-I got lost." Still unable to look my father in the eye.

"Bullshit!" He almost shouted, still trying to keep his voice down in consideration of the guest in my room. "You are such a disappointment of a kid, you know that?"

Ouch. I looked up at him then. There wasn't much disappointment in his eyes, it was rage. He was just angry at me. "Fuck you..." I muttered quietly under my breath.

"I heard that, you little shit!" He sighed. He seemed to be doing a lot of that. "You better buck up your ideas. This year is your last chance. I mean, Jiraiya, do you even have a clue what you want to do with your life?"

"Y-yeah... Of course I do..."

"And do you have the grades to get anywhere?"

"Yeah!" I yelled, "I actually done quite well last year, I got A's, Dad! I got A's in the subjects I needed to!" He looked genuinely shocked.

"What doyou want to do, son?" He asked me, like he cared.

"I dunno-"

"Don't give me that shit!" He barked, "You know what subjects you need, so, what do you want to do?"

This was getting tense. I had always had an idea of what I wanted to do, but I had never let my parents take an interest to find out. In fact, until that day, I had always assumed they just thought I was going to end up some drug-addled wreck, who would be indebted to the Yakuza, so much so, they'd end up being the death of me, if the drugs didn't get there first. I had such a high opinion of my parents. I had such a high opinion of myself.

"I study Physiotherapy, then use that to be a specialised personal trainer."

There was an awkward, and long silence.

"Maybe you aren't a lost cause after all."

I stormed off, almost forgetting Orochimaru was in my room until, throwing my bedroom door open, I scared the shit out of him. He shot up to his feet.

"Are you alright?" He asked tentatively.

"Yeah..." I wasn't really sure what to say. "Sorry about that."

"No need to apologise." This kid was too polite. We sat in silence for a few long minutes before I realised if I wanted conversation from him, I'd have to drag it out of him.

"So, why were you at the school today? Isn't it closed until Thursday?" I asked.

"Oh!" He sat, playing with his hands, "Saratobi-Sensei is my Uncle, and my father is away at a conference this week." He explained. "He asked me to help out since you were coming in, and I didn't really feel like I could say no, he is looking after me."

"A conference? What does he do?" I asked. "Conference makes it sound cool and important."

"I'm not entirely sure. He is a biologist. That's all I know. That's all I'm allowed to know."

"All you're allowed to know?" Orochimaru just seemed to be getting stranger by the minute.

"He works for the government, so he can't really tell me. I don't see him often enough to sit down and talk about it either." That was a bit of a dampener. I was useless in those situations.

"You're a bit of a weird kid, ain't ya?" I laughed. "I like you." He went red, and I laughed harder.

Time flew as I continued to talk about myself, and Orochimaru continued to listen. It was only when a knock softly came on my door and my mother walked in. She peeked her head in, a delicate smile across her glowing face.

"Honey, it's getting late." She looked to Orochimaru. "Is your friend staying over? Do his parents know he is here?" He looked at his watch, then stood up.

"Actually, time got away from me." He bowed at my mother. "Thank you for having me, I should be going now."

"Would you like a ride home?" My Mom asked.

"No, thank you though." He assured her.

I got up and walked him to the door. "Thanks for coming in." I told him awkwardly. "Being the new kid, it'll be nice to have someone in school who'll know me."

He gave a soft smile. "It was nice to hang with you Jiraiya-kun. Who'd have known an awkward boner would have come to this." He teased.

My face went red. "Shut up."

"That wasn't a denial that time."

"Shut up! I didn't have a boner, you moron." He was laughing at me. "Give me a text sometime, we can hang again, if you want."

"I might." He said, with a wink. Then he left.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: New School

Light. Light was burning my eyes. Why did people like waking me this way?   
“Good morning honey!” How in holy hell could she be so cheery at this time. I sat up, rubbing my eyes, trying to get used to the sunshine. My mother was putting something over the bannister.   
“Picking out my clothes now, are we?” I joked. “Do I dress that badly?”  
She laughed with me. “This is your uniform. It's a private school, everyone must wear it.”  
“Seriously? Why do you do these things to me?” I got out of my bed and headed to the bathroom.  
“Your dad told me about the conversation you had the other night.” I stopped dead in my tracks. I don't know if she wanted me to say something. Even if she did, I didn't know what to say. “If you are serious about it, then please don't skip any more school. You're my little boy. I want to see you do well.”  
“I know, Mom.”

I came down to the living room to find both my parents waiting for me. Mom's eyes lit up when she seen me.  
“You look so smart!” She gushed over me, fixing my tie as I struggled against her. Tidying my hair as I tried to escape her crazily strong 'mother' grip.  
“I'm leaving for work, I'll give you a ride there.” My dad told me. Looking back, I think he wanted to make sure I went, but at the time I had just blinded by the delusion that he was a little proud.   
Fixing my tie and kissing my cheek, my Mom hugged me and then shut the car door behind me once I was in. A kiss for my dad and we were on the way. The car ride to school was silent. Awkward. Unbearable. Once at the school, I couldn't get out of the car far enough. I didn't even say thanks, or bye. I had never, in my life, wanted to be at school so badly. It was strange coming to school with the bustle of the start of the day. Kids waiting around for classes to start, catching up with friends they hadn't seen over the long weekend. I hadn't been part of this for something close to two years.   
I had been told I needed to go to the main reception, where a lady would hand me my new timetable. I walked in slowly. I was so nervous. It felt like everyone was looking at me, made worse by the fading bruises on my face. A pale face with dark hair was a welcome sight. He was waiting at the desk. I hoped he was waiting for me.  
“Mornin'” I said once Orochimaru was within earshot.  
He turned sharply. I had scared him, and it was slightly hilarious.  
“Good morning, Jiraiya-kun.” He said with a smile. “Here.” He handed me a piece of paper. It took me longer than it should have to realise what it was.  
“Is this my timetable?” I asked, “Thanks Oro!”  
“Oro?” He looked extremely displeased.  
“What?” I laughed, “Your name is way too long to keep saying. You needed a nickname.”  
“And you went with Oro?” He gave me a somewhat disbelieving look.  
“I had considered Oreo.” I laughed.  
“Oreo?!” He was a bit pissed with that one.  
“Your hair is super dark, and you have almost literally white, like an Oreo...?” I think trying to explain made things worse.  
“You thought about me enough that you decided I need a nickname?” He teased. He teased me a lot, and I never really picked up on it. Although I must have, in the back of my mind, I must have known what was happening.   
“I- I dunno.” My voice cracked. “You have a long name.” I was blushing, again. “PE.” I said, trying to change the subject.  
“Pardon?” The confused look on Orochimaru's face at that point was picturesque.  
“I have PE first.” I repeated. “Do you... You don't take PE, do you?”  
“Do I not look like I take PE?” Teasing me. Still teasing me.  
“N-no!” I was such an awkward kid. “I guess I'd say you look more like a 'smarts' kinda guy?”  
“Is that a question? Or are you telling me?”  
“Just show me the PE Department.” I huffed. He laughed. Even now, it's still an unfamiliar sound.  
“Alright, Jiraiya-kun.”

The walk to the PE department was unsatisfyingly short. It must have been the department closest to the reception, and I was left by Orochimaru to find someone in my class who would help. And I had the worst luck. Genma.   
“Hey, Jiraiya.” His voice sent shivers up my spine. “You take PE? Cool” He seemed different. Calmer. Maybe he wasn't as bad as I had remembered, or first thought.  
“Uh, yeah.” Rubbing my neck awkwardly, I wasn't sure how to act with Genma yet. I didn't want to give him the wrong idea. “So... who takes this class?”  
“Oh, it's Gai-Sensei.” His face changed to an expression I couldn't describe. “He... he's a weird kinda guy...”  
Inoichi and Shikaku walked past me then.  
“Beware the enthusiasm.” Shikaku warned.  
“He will work you.” Inoichi chipped in too.  
They didn't even acknowledge Genma. I'd find out why soon enough.   
The hall quietened down as most of the students were now in class. In fact, it felt like Genma had kept me standing, so we were alone. And I was correct.  
“Let's go.” Genma started off, hopefully he was going to show me to the changing rooms.  
“A-alright.” I could not help myself; I thought I had gotten over my stutter, but Genma brought it back out in me.  
“Here.” He opened a door for me and let me in. It was empty inside. Shit. He had me pinned against the wall before I knew what was going on.  
“Genma.” I choked out, his forearm against my throat. “I'm flattered, but you ain't my type.” I tired to laugh the situation off. A punch to my ribs shut me up. Quickly.  
“Shut up!” Genma snapped at me. “Now, you prick. Let's get this sorted before you stick your dick up my ass!” To say he was a little pissed was offensively understated. “I am not fucking gay, despite what Tsunade thinks. She has a hot friend, that, for some weird reason is into bisexual guys. I want into that.”  
“What?” Another punch had my eyes watering.  
“Tell Tsunade or Shizune, and you will regret it. Tell any of her friends and I'll make sure people wonder what happened to you. Fucking faggots! It's not right!” Genma was practically foaming at the mouth. He was a little prejudiced, to say the least.  
“Let me go!” I coughed. “I won't say anything! You are really hurting me.”  
“Good.” He let go and I fell to my knees. “If I were you, stay away from that pale freak too, don't want people getting the wrong idea.” He walked out, leaving me on the floor reeling over what happened. It took a minute for me to collect myself and walk out. I was off to a great start, wasn't I?   
I wandered around the department wondering where I was going, as Genma had abandoned me. Not that I protested. Sick freak; pretending he was something he obviously hated just to get into some chick. Shikaku had good timing. Out he popped from a changing room, the one we should have been in.  
“Hey, Jiraiya, right?” He asked.  
“Yeah.” He didn't quite seem the same as when I first met him either.  
“I though Genma was showing you around?”  
“He fucked off. Don't know where he went.” I explained. Hoping he wasn't going to flip out either.  
“Dude, you can relax. Tsunade asked me to freak you out. She thought it would be funny.” Shikaku had obviously sensed my discomfort.  
“Not going to lie; thank fuck.” I gave a breathy laugh, “Thought everyone she knew was going to try and kill me via molestation or embarrassment.”  
“God, you are naïve as fuck, Jiraiya.” It felt like all people were doing was laughing at me. “Come on, get ready.”  
I followed Shikaku into the changing room, as Genma pushed his way out, catching my ribs painfully one more time.  
I set my things down next to Shikaku and Inoichi, and began to get ready. In retrospect, I wish I had put a tank on under my shirt, all the eyes on me as I took my shirt off made me feel wrong.  
“Jeez... Jiraiya, what the hell happened to you?” Shikaku gave me a look like I was almost dead.  
“Heh. I keep forgetting about it.” I tried to avoid answering any questions.  
“How can you forget about that? Doesn't it hurt?” Inoichi voiced.  
“I guess so.” I pulled my t-shirt over my head, and suddenly my ribs hurt. I realised quickly that it was from Genma. A sharp intake gave away my pain.  
“You alright?” Inoichi and Shikaku asked in unison.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

As I walked out the gate, a wonderfully familiar dark haired boy was waiting for me. I had spent the rest of the day feeling bad for what had happened during break that I had to find a way to make up for it.  
“Hey, Oro!” I shouted, and he turned around, the sadness still in his eyes, but he had a smile on his face. “If you aren't doing much, wanna come keep me company?”  
He smiled again. “Hello, Jiraiya-kun. You don't mind hanging around with me?” He trailed off. “To be honest, I was worried you might share the same opinion as Genma...”  
“You don't think to highly of me, then?” I asked, as a joke, but me being me, I had the worst timing.  
“No! NO! Not at all, I-I just... I don't know...” He panicked.  
“It's alright Oro, I'm just shit at humour. Never know when to joke.” I laughed.   
We started off down the avenue. Walking silently for a bit. “You know, I don't care about who you like and shit like that.” I had the stupidest grin on face. I thought, at the time, if I smiled enough, it would rub off on Orochimaru and he'd feel better.   
I don't think it ever made a difference. He just eventually learned how to hide it from me.  
“Oi!” A voice came from behind us. We turned at the same time. Genma stood, his stupid face grinning. Wasn't he going to let up? He had two, rather bulky friends with him, one on either side.  
“What do you want, Genma? Didn't get enough of me earlier today?” My smug attitude wasn't to be long living as a fist suddenly connected with my face and I fell to the slightly wet road. Not far behind me, Orochimaru hit the ground too. There was no way in hell I could have shot up any faster. I was ready for a fight. My fist balled, I hit Genma, just catching his mouth, and jumped on him as he fell. I didn't get any further than that as the two meat heads he had brought with him grabbed me. One had a tight hold on my arm, the other holding onto my hair. As I was thrown back, I managed to notice Orochimaru had gotten back to his feet, mostly unscathed, thank god. I hit the ground hard, it knocked the air out of my lungs. I blinked, and all of a sudden Genma was looming over me, bloody lipped from the punch, framed by the other two. I never did learn their names.  
If Orochimaru hadn't been there that day, I think I would have come out from that fight a lot worse.   
I felt myself being lifted to my feet and my arms being restrained behind my back as Genma laid into me. Gennai, I think I'd heard my pale friend yell, was holding Orochimaru back from pulling Genma or the other one off me. I could feel Genma relentlessly punch my stomach, no slow in his pace, as if he didn't have any intention of stopping. Blood was mixing with my saliva as I spat up, I don't think I could have taken much more. My arms were released then, and I fell to my knees immediately. I went for it then, instinct took over and I tackled Genma to the ground when the opportunity presented itself.  
“Jiraiya! Stop!” Orochimaru yelled, and I managed to catch myself before a hit landed. “Let's just go, please, don't lower yourself.”   
I slowly stood up, then went to pick up my things that were now strewn about the place. As I bent down to pick up my bag, Genma launched himself at me, landing a hefty kick on the back of my head.  
“Genma, stop!” Orochimaru pleaded.  
“Genma, come on. We're done.” One of them urged. It worked. Genma and his two cronies left then, leaving Orochimaru panicking and me just crumpled on the ground next to my bag. The adrenaline had left me and the pain of the fight was settling in.  
“Jiraiya-kun, are you alright?” Orochimaru asked me, concerned.  
“I'm fine.” I managed to get out.  
Orochimaru helped me to my feet, and to gather my things. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so mad. He hit you.”   
“You were mad because he hit me?” He seemed a little confused.  
“Yeah, he was arguing with me, there was no need to go for you too.” I reasoned with myself. Then I didn't realise the real reason I'd been so upset.

Orochimaru carried my bag home for me as I struggled to keep myself upright for half of the journey. When we got home, I was perhaps a little too excited at the fact my dad wasn't home yet.  
“Oro, could you try to help me get in without my Mom hearing? I don't want her too see me like this...” I was so ashamed as I thought of my Mom. I promised this would be a new start, that I wouldn't fight and I had failed already. I could feel myself tearing up.  
“Alright... I'll try.”   
It had been a while since I had needed to hide from her. It had gotten to the stage if I got in a fight or I was drunk, high or something else I shouldn't be, I didn't care to try and hide it from her. Now I was trying. This was supposed to be a turn and I was going to be great, and a model student. How could I let her down, maybe my Dad was right?  
We managed to slip up to my bedroom without my Mom hearing. It was when my bedroom door shut that she called up to make sure it was me. I couldn't get to my sofa fast enough. I precariously sat myself down and wondered what to do next.  
“Oro...?” I'd need help. “C-can you help me? I need to wash the blood off my face and try and change...” I was blushing so hard. Looking back, it was so silly how I acted around him right from the start.  
“Alright.” He was quiet in his agreement.  
“Can you get a wash cloth from my bathroom, and any t-shirt you happen to see?” I asked, grabbing a pair of shorts I'd noticed shoved down my sofa. He headed up to do what I asked and I began the uneasy process of stripping. I kicked my shoes off, and let my trousers fall to the floor. It took so much effort to bend over to pull on my shorts. Orochimaru walked down the stairs a damp cloth in one hand and my shirt in the other.   
“Do you need a hand there?” I wasn't sure if he was laughing at me or if he was concerned. “Sit down.” He pulled me onto the couch, and sat with me. “I can't believe you got in a fight on your first day.” He was eyeing my face, blood on my lips, from my burst nose.   
“I know.” I couldn't look him in the eye. “I didn't mean to, Tsunade is going to hate me, and my Mom and Dad, even though they might have already.”  
“What? Don't be silly, your parents love you, and Tsunade, why will she hate you, who is she?”  
“She's my friend, but she's friends with Genma too, I hit her friend! But he lies to her, he doesn't deserve to be her friend!” I was almost crying, but I didn't want to in front of Orochimaru.  
“If you are good enough friends, this won't matter.” It was nice to have him comfort me. I was glad he didn't pry either. He put the cloth to my face, wiping the blood off my face. I sat stunned for a moment by his kindness. My heart beating through my chest. I didn't even realise then...   
I sighed, “Thanks Oreo...” I grabbed his hand as it wiped down my cheek.  
I slowly got up, unbuttoning my shirt and undoing my tie. I winced as I lifted my arm to try and pull it off, and Orochimaru jumped up to help me, pulling my shirt off for me. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror in my peripherals. Not a pretty sight, and definitely not one I wanted to see. I shied away from the mirror.  
“Wow... That is some colour. Are you alright?” I forgot that Oro didn't really know how bad I had already been.   
“Hmph... yeah... I was already quite bruised.” I explained. He just stood, looking at me, bruises, cuts, everything uncovered.  
“Jiraiya!” My Mom shouted up, “Tsunade is here to see you!”  
Oh no.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“Tsunade is here to see you!” My Mom shouted up to me.

Oh no.

“Crap.” I panicked.   
“Jiraiya-kun, it's alright, it wasn't your fault.” Orochimaru already was such a comfort for me after a few short days.  
In she came, a smile on her face. She didn't know. It was gone quickly when she seen me.  
“Jiraiya! What happened?! You were not this bad the other day!” I grabbed her, pulling her in and slamming my door shut.  
“Shhh!” I urged her to be quiet. “Please, I don't want my Mom to see me. I got in a fight on my first day...”  
“You are such a tool!” She laughed. “Imagine fighting with someone on your first day.”  
“I know.” I looked down, thankful that Genma hadn't got to her first. I wouldn't tell her then, I couldn't.   
“What happened anyway?” She went to sit on the couch when she noticed Orochimaru. “Have you been here all this time? Who are you?” She moved the hair out of his face, “Were you fighting too?” Referring the the slight bruise forming on Orochimaru's jaw from where Genma had hit him earlier.  
“Some guy was being a dick to Orochimaru.” I told her. “There was no need, and I got a little carried away and apparently agreed to fight him. Turns out he was a chicken shit and brought some backup to hold me back, cause he obviously couldn't take me fair and square.”  
Tsunade turned to Orochimaru, “So you're Orochimaru then?” He nodded. “Quiet, ain't ya? Well, any friend of Jiraiya's is a friend of mine!” She turned and gave me a hard pat on my back.  
“Jeez, ouch! Watch Tsunade, that hurt!”   
She laughed while apologising, “How about you get your clothes back on, big boy?”   
Oh yeah, I was still stood there with my tits out for the world to see. Orochimaru handed me my shirt. Wincing trying to pull it on, he stepped in, and done it for me. I was so embarrassed, but not because he had to do it, more that he done it. It caused a flutter that I wouldn't understand until months later.  
“Jiraiya honey, come here a second!” My mother called up to me. I looked in the mirror to make sure my face was clean and clear, and went to see her.  
Tsunade would later tell me the details of what occurred in my absence:  
“So... Orochimaru? How come I don't know you?” Tsunade asked.  
“I don't really know a lot of people.” He replied.  
“How d'ya know Jiraiya?” The blonde continued questioning.  
“He seems to have taking a linking to me since helping him find his way home the other night.” He laughed.  
“Not that you're complaining, right?” She teased, and Orochimaru went pink.  
“Is it that obvious?”  
“To me? Yes. Anyone else, probably not. Don't worry, I can one hundred percent guarantee he doesn't realise.” Tsunade sat beside Orochimaru.  
“Is he... you know...?” Orochimaru couldn't bring himself to say it, grief over Mizuki made him feel so guilty about how he was, about his sexuality.  
“You know, I dunno. Never picked up hints either way. He's so comfortable around me it's hard to tell with him.”

And then in I came, interrupting their one to one.  
“Mom made ramen!” I said, a huge smile on my face and a tray with three large, full bowls in my hands. “You guys hungry?” We spent the evening just sitting and talking, the three of us bonding, getting to know each other. 

Time skip. Seven months.

As the months passed, we'd do it often, switching between houses. We became inseparable. I got quite close with Tsunade's friends, but the friendship between the three of us was hard to compare. Tsunade was my rock, my constant, my sister. I couldn't live without her. Orochimaru, my best friend, and gradually, I realised I wanted it to be something more... But how do you tell people you think you might be gay?Holidays came and went, opportunities for me to own up to Orochimaru just kept passing by. I even had myself convinced at one point that he'd hate me for feeling the way I did. Truth be told, I think I was scared of what my Dad would think. Other things were progressing great. Minus Genma, I was doing great in school, and I was training hard, having joined a karate class, the allure that I could be a 'ninja' was too great for me to resist. My father wasn't as mad at me anymore, still just enough to motivate me. Mom was proud of me, for staying in school, for sticking it out and keeping to the promise I'd made. I was practically a new person.   
Spring mid term was nearing and we were excited to spend some time all together; Tsunade, Orochimaru, Inoichi, Shikaku, Choza, Shizune, Hana, Shiho, myself and… Genma were going camping down on the beach, in movie cliché style. Despite his attitude towards me in school I still couldn't tell Tsunade, I had it in my head that he just didn't like me, that it wasn't real, he wasn't pretending to be bisexual for the attention.  
I sat in my living room, watching out the window like a puppy waiting for the mail man. Orochimaru was picking Tsunade and Shizune, then coming to get me, and we were meeting everyone at the beach.  
“Are you sure you have everything?” My Mom had me check my bag seven times already, panicked that I'd leave without something she had deemed necessary.  
“Good god! Yes mother, I have everything you want me to have!” A horn came from outside. “Don't worry.” I said as I kissed her cheek and bolted out the door waving to her as I ran. She stood at the door, waiting until Orochimaru's car was out of sight. Then we were free.  
“So, is everyone able to come?” I asked.  
“As far as I know, no one's backed out yet?” Tsunade chirped, just as excited as me.  
“Cannot fucking wait for this!” I yelled, probably a little too loudly.  
“I know!” Came a squealing duet from Tsunade and Shizune.  
When we arrived Inoichi, Shikaku and Choza were already there, setting up the 12 man tent Inoichi had promised he'd bring. It was huge, how it manage to fit on the beach, I had no idea. We left Orochimaru to park the car and the three of us took the bags down to join the guys. Before Orochimaru got there, I was determined to seek out help from Tsunade.  
“Hey, Tsun, can I speak to you a second?” I asked pulling her as I walked up the beach. I stayed silent until I was sure we were far enough away. “Tsunade... How do you let someone know you like them?” I asked, sounding seriously stupid. “I mean, I've tried flirting, I think, but I dunno if it's working, if they even notice...”  
“Ooooh!” She teased, “Who do you like? Is it Hana? It's those tattoos of hers isn't it? Or did Genma finally win you over?”   
“No, and good lord, most definitely not Genma.” I was blushing, so much so I don't think blood was in any other part of my body then. “It's...” I mumbled so quietly I would have been as well as saying nothing.  
“What? I didn't catch that?”   
“Orochimaru...” I whispered.  
“Wait, seriously?” She had a rather huge, silly grin on her face. “You know, I was trying to get a read on you since you got here, I'm glad it's finally cleared up!”  
“What?” I was confused.  
“Couldn't tell if you were straight or not. Was hoping to set you up!” She laughed again.  
“I didn't know either, to be honest. I've been thinking about it for the last three months. I didn't know what I was feeling, it was something my Mom said that made me realise.” I told her. It was hard getting this off my chest, but Tsunade was the only one I could tell. “So, any advice?”  
“Not really.” My face fell, my sure thing had failed. “I mean, I wouldn't change what you're doing, it's working, trust me.” She gave a cruel wink before heading back to everyone else. I sat away for a bit longer, considering what she meant. I was so distracted I never even noticed Orochimaru sneak up behind me. He grabbed my shoulders, and scared the shit out of me. “Holy mother of god! Orochimaru you made me crap my pants!”  
He laughed, an adorable laugh. “Sorry, I couldn't resist.”  
“It's fine, since it's you.” I smiled, and gave him a flirtatious nudge.  
“Orochimaru...” Maybe I should tell him now, I considered.  
“Is something wrong, you've said my full name twice now.” He raised an eyebrow at me, “You never say my full name.”  
“Everything is fine, I just...” Silence.  
“Just...?”  
“How do you know if someone likes you?” I asked, hoping he'd get the hint.  
“I don't think I'm the best person to ask that, if anyone out there likes me, I have no clue.”  
“What if someone did?” I tried again.  
“Then I'd wonder who the hell would like me!” He was joking, but I think there was a part of him that wasn't. “Something might be wrong with them!”  
“There's nothing wrong with me!” I snapped instinctively. Then I realised what I had done, my hands slapped over my mouth to stop my from doing anything else stupid. Orochimaru just looked at me wide eyed, no idea what to do or say.  
“Did you just?” He couldn't get out the full question. “Do you... like me? Like me, like me?” He asked.  
“Maybe!” I said as I walked away, “Forget I said anything.”  
And I walked away.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

What did I do? What the fuck did I just do? I had just accidentally confessed to Orochimaru, and then I decided to run away. Genius. Pure brilliance. Tsunade was watching me run to them, a look of utter disbelief on her face.  
“What are you doing?” She asked, grabbing me to stop me from running.  
“I-I may have accidentally let slip to Orochimaru, then ran away. Immediately.” I whispered.  
“You did what?”  
“Don't make me say it again...”  
“He's coming back.” She looked behind me.  
“Who? What?”  
“Orochimaru, he's coming back, you better think of something to say.” She was pushing me towards him.  
“No, no! I can't! Come help me find a place to go to the bathroom or something. I just can't be here right now, please, I'm gonna die.” I pleaded.  
“Hey, Orochimaru, help Jiraiya find somewhere to go piss!” Betrayer. Evil betrayer. How could she do this to me. I gave her a look that let her know just how pissed I was.  
“I need to get something from the car, can't you go with him?” Orochimaru asked her in return and he walked off. My heart sank. I knew it; he didn't like me back.

Orochimaru kept on walking past Tsunade and myself. He continued straight back to his car, got in the front seat. With a sigh, his head fell onto the wheel.  
“Ouch.” He said aloud. Although he didn't know why. “Did he really just say that?” Orochimaru thought to himself, beginning some sort of inner monologue. “No...” Hands running through his hair. “He's cute, I've always thought that, but did he just say he liked me?” Orochimaru looked out he window to the sea, it was calming. “Do I like him?” He thought for a moment and his heart began to flutter. “Do I?” Sudden realisation that he might was shocking, finding out a good looking friend who was, for him, unattainable, was now something he could have made his heart race. “I think I do... What do I do?” He went to open the car door, but paused, “What do I do...? Tsunade could help, she'll know what to do!” He got out of the car and looked over the beach, unsure if he could go back yet.

“I blew it, didn't I?” I said to Tsunade as I watched Orochimaru walk on, not looking back.  
“Well... It doesn't seem to have gone so good.” She admitted, “I thought it would too, he's always thought you were hot.”I beamed through sheer embarrassment. “Really?”   
She laughed “I didn't think you'd noticed. Never sure if it was a crush though, couldn't get it out of him.”  
“Don't say anything, Tsunade.” I pleaded, “To anyone, especially Orochimaru. I'd rather have him as a friend, than not at all.”  
“Aw, sweetie, you sound mature when you say that. It scares me.” She wrapped her arms around me, in a hug that I really needed. “Don't worry, it'll work out.”

The sky stayed clear all day, not a cloud in sight. We played in the water, as far out as we could go, throwing a ball and splashing around. As the sun set in the water got colder around us, we decided it was time to go back to the tent. As the girls got changed in the tent, the boys got the fire going and started cooking food.  
“Come on girls, we're freezing! Surely it doesn't take that long to get ready!” Inoichi yelled as he and Shikaku ran around the tent punching, hoping to catch one of the girls off guard.  
“Oh my god, Inoichi! Stop that!” Came a giggle from inside the tent. “We're almost done!”  
Eventually they were done, and out they came, in beach dresses and draped in their blankets, looking great, I might add, it may not be my thing, but I could appreciate a beauty when I seen one. It was a race between us guys to see who could get into the tent first, everything that weekend was a contest between the guys, who was the manliest of us all. Choza, being the biggest, hand an unfair handicap, if you ask me, and beat us all with one push out of his way. Playful punching and kicking ensued as the rest of us tried to get into the tent. All of a sudden a full dressed Choza ran out of the tent. We figured he was just hungry. Orochimaru, Inoichi, Shikaku and I joined the girls and Choza and started the barbeque.   
“Who touched my stuff?!” Someone shouted from the tent.  
“Wait, who's still in there...?” Shizune asked. We looked between us, then realised Genma was still getting ready.  
“Seriously guys, where are my clothes?” Genma shouted again.  
Choza held back a snigger.  
“What have you done?” I whispered to him.  
“I took his bag!” He laughed, lifting a bag from behind his back.  
“Oh my god! Ha! You're brilliant Choza!” I smiled.  
Genma walked out, a towel over his crotch, preserving his manhood. “CHOZA! Where are my clothes?!” He was furious by this point. He stormed over to Choza, and tried to grab the bag from behind him, resulting in the funniest and satisfying game of 'Keep Away' I ever played. When we eventually gave in and let him have his bag, Genma remained in his sour mood for a while. 

We enjoyed slightly blackened sausages over the camp fire as the sun settled into the horizon, and once the dinner we got down to enjoying our night. The booze we had all gathered was rather formidable for ten teens over one night. We couldn't wait to get started, opening the first of three crates of beer. It was cringe worthy to watch Genma flirt hopelessly flirt with Shizune as the night went on. Six beers and I had decided to move onto something stronger. I'm not sure what it was, but it was meant to be taken as a shot, but it was sweet, strawberry flavoured, and went down too easily, so I kept the bottle to myself. About a quarter of the way through the bottle, the effects of the alcohol were creeping up fast. I looked over to Orochimaru, and noticed he was nursing a beer, his third by my count, as I'd been the one passing them to him. I thought it would be a goo idea to share some of the sweet drink I had claimed, hoping he'd get drunk enough for something to happen, although what I didn't know, hadn't thought that far ahead.  
“Hey, Oro!” I walked over to him, with a drunken grace to my step. I grabbed his beer from his hand and downed it. “There, that ge's rid o' that! Want some of this?” I offered the bottle as sat beside him. He declined. “Wha's wrong Oro? You don' seem like you're enjoyin' yourself.”  
“I'm fine, Jiraiya-kun. It seems, I'm a lightweight however.” He looked up at me, his cheeks flush. He was drunk already, He'd had two beers, and I later found out about five shots of straight vodka that Tsunade kept passing to him. I laughed.  
“Cheap night out, tha's what that makes you!” I put my arm round his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. “I was worried you hated me.” I whispered into his ear.  
“Why would I hate you?” He looked at me, a look of genuine confusion in his eyes.  
“'Cause of earlier. I did something wrong. You don' like me.”  
“I do like you, Jiraiya-kun!” He looked at his feet. “I just wasn't sure.”  
I grabbed his chin, probably a bit rougher than I should have, and drew his gaze to mine. It was difficult to hold, but I didn't want to look away. I let go of his face, not sure if I should carry on, but Orochimaru had decided that he was the one going to make that choice as he softly pressed his pale lips against mine. It was sweet, although sloppy, and it was just a kiss, but from that moment, I think I'd given him my heart completely, even if I didn't know it.  
“Get a room!” Tsunade shouted, prompting a swift end to our innocently chaste kiss. Looking around at the faces of our friends, they were surprised, and obviously thought it adorable and/or hilarious as jeers and whoops began. All except Genma. He remained silent, and if I'd been close enough I would have seen the look of death on his face, but alas, I was very drunk, and now, very embarrassed.  
“Shut up.” I couldn't bring myself to shout, but it didn't matter, everyone just got back to what they were doing. Orochimaru stood up, and took my hand. There must have been a look on my face that said I was thinking he was issuing an invite for sex because of what he said to me once he'd taken my hand.  
“Don't worry, Jiraiya-kun. I just want to be away from prying eyes, this is new, and I just want to be left alone.” I stood up, and followed him back to the tent and into our 'room'. He sat on the floor, and motioned for me to sit beside him. So I did. Very clumsily. He slowly placed his arms on either side of me, and, almost instinctively, my legs straightened out and he was on top of me, our legs intertwined. His breath was warm, and smelled of beer, but it was amazing. He kissed me again, only this time, it was more passionate, more 'making out' than kissing. It was messy and exciting. And that's all I remember of that night.


	11. Chapter 11

I had a tough time writing this! Such writers block, many annoyed.  
-  
Chapter 11  
-  
I woke the next morning not sure of anything. My head was pounding. I felt as sick as a dog. And I was less clothed than I remembered being. I rolled over to see Orochimaru was in the same boat; shirtless, probably ill. He stirred and I panicked. He turned over and smiled.  
“Morning, sleepy head.”  
“Morning.” Was it even still morning?  
“So, how are you feeling today?” Orochimaru asked.  
“I am as rough as fuck! Orochimaru?” I didn't remember the night before. “What happened last night? Did we...? I don't remember anything after we got into the tent.”  
He sat up. “Don't worry, it didn't get too far.” I wasn't sure if I was disappointed or happy. “We made out, and when we took our shirts off, it got kinda heavy.” He paused. “We must have stopped for a breath, or something, but I put my head on your chest for a second, I think, and then we fell asleep.” He looked right in my eye, with a look of disbelief in what he was about to say. “You don't stay still when you sleep. You wriggle. A lot. And you took your shorts off too. It was funny to watch.”  
There was silence for a minute or two.  
“So, what happens now?” I asked.  
“What do you mean?” He looked at me with those hypnotic golden eyes. I could get lost in them still. I'm sure he is lost in them too, somewhere. I hope.  
“I mean, does this go anywhere? Do you want it to?” I looked at my feet, just at that moment realising he might want it to end. I hadn't prepared for that. My chest grew tight in panic and anticipation as I waited for my Oreo to speak.  
“I-I do. I want it to go somewhere, if you do.”  
My eyes watered. “You do?” I beamed. “Really?”  
“Yes. Why? Are you doubting me?” Orochimaru asked.  
“It's a bit too good to be true.” 

I headed outside, where Inoichi, Shikaku and Genma were sat, eating breakfast. I could feel Genma's eyes burning a hole through me as I laid claim on one of the 'fancy' camping chairs. Rummaging through the cooler housing all our food, I was delighted with the discovery of my mums home made egg salad sandwiches. Perfect hangover cure.  
One by one the 'gang' emerged, each just as rough and ill as the other. The better I felt, the funnier it was. When Tsunade finally woke up, she couldn't get over to me fast enough.  
“We need to have some girl talk, come with me!” She grabbed me by the arm, pulling me up with an ungodly amount of strength.  
“I'm coming, you can let me go.” But she didn't. She just kept a hold of me until she deemed that we were far enough away.  
“You two kissed.” Tsunade looked me dead in the eyes, and just kept staring. She didn't say anything else, just stared.  
“Yes. We did.” I was trying to coax the conversation out of her.  
“You two kissed, and then snuck off!”  
“Yes. We did.”  
“Did you... y'know?”  
“What?!” She looked at me, just waiting for the juciest gossip. “No! We were too drunk. We barely even managed to make out before I passed out.”  
“Well that's boring.” And that was that. We headed back to everyone else, and went on like normal.  
After breakfast, the day was spent packing up and playing in the water, with only a few days left of our vacation, I wanted to spend some time either alone, or with fewer people, or generally, just time without Genma. Even after seven months, I still couldn't bring myself to tell Tsunade about him. It would be nice to just chill at home for a while.  
-  
We dropped Tsunade and Shizune off at home, Orochimaru insisting it was his responsibility to get them home as he had picked them up in the first place, despite their insistance they would get a ride with one of the other guys. Next stop was my place to dump my bag and pick up some clean clothes and perhaps jump in the shower. We pulled up to find my parents were out, or still gone. Either way, it didn't matter the house was empty, I could leave a note and be done with. I left the bag, full of dirty clothes, on the floor in the kitchen and headed up to my bedroom.  
“I'm gonna grab some clean clothes, c'mon.” I shouted to Orochimaru, who was still stood at the front door. He slowly followed me up to my room. I rummaged through my drawers finding exactly the clothes I wanted; my favourite and most comfortable jeans and t-shirts. I scrunched them into a bag, much to Oro's dismay.  
“You can't put your clothes in like that!” He shouted at me.  
“Why not? I'll iron them later, if I need to.” He gave me a look to show me how he disapproved of laziness. “I'm gonna jump in a quick shower, I have sand in my hair, and it's killing my scalp! Would you mind waiting on me?”  
“No, it's fine.” He gave a soft smile.  
-  
I emerged from the shower feeling much fresher, and more relaxed. I wrapped a towel around my hips and came out as Orochimaru was finishing re-packing my bag for me.  
“Oro! I told you it was fine!” I blushed, embarrassed that he felt the need to fix my bag.  
“It's alright. It was bugging me, I had to sort it.”  
I grabbed fresh socks and boxers and coyly pulled on the boxers underneath my towel, keeping myself hidden so I could put on my socks without having to leave the room. I was quick in getting changed having been invited over to Orochimaru's for the first time, for a movie session to chill before going back to school.

Short I know, but if I keep going, it will be too long... :P


	12. Chapter 12

Going to put a warning here, as this got a little more steamy that I possibly intended. I'm not sure to be truthful. Probably not, this is just my first attempt at writing such nonsense! I just don't know if it seems to have jumped to this point or not? I also noticed there is a lot of 'He' did this, 'He' did that. If it wasn't for the fact this was written from Jiraiya's POV I would change it up more, but I wanted to write it like a person would say it, and I just don't see a person describing their friend as 'The pale boy' or 'The raven haired'. So please excuse the horrid repetition, the sequel will be better.  
-  
Chapter 12  
-

To this day, I think I've met Orochimaru's dad four times. Once, when we were moving out. Once when I was in the hospital, and another time was before Prom. The first was the worst possible way to meet a person, if you ask me.

Once we got to Orochimaru's place, he had decided to take a quick shower, so I sat, patiently in his living room, taking in the clinical and precise way it was; it could have been a show house. He wasn't long in the shower, so before long, we began the arduous task of choosing a movie to watch.  
We had eventually decided to watch some Korean movies, the first; a western Korean movie. We sat in the living room, popcorn and soda between us, hands occasionally meeting in a shy passing. By the time the second movie had gotten to the good part, we were no longer interested, and were simply enjoying each others company. We acted like nothing between us had changed, still talking and laughing in the same way we always had. It was when we had cleared up and were able to sit next to each other that things got heated. I sat down in the corner of the sofa, and he sat beside me, snuggled right beside me. He lay his head on my shoulder, and I took his hand. It was nice, it was sweet, it got my imagination running wild.   
“Are you alright, Jiraiya-kun?” I could feel his voice reverberate in my chest.  
“Yeah, why?”   
“You're breathing quite heavily.”  
I laughed, “It's your fault.”  
He turned and kissed me. It was much more precise and nowhere near as sloppy then our previous drunken kiss. My heart was pounding as he moved to straddle me. My face must have been bright red, I could feel it burning. My hands rested on his hips, and slowly, I made my way onto bare skin.  
Then he stopped. He pulled away, and I must have made a noise like a distressed puppy. He grabbed my hand and led me to his bedroom. To this day, I can't believe how quickly things got to this stage, considering how hard it can be to get a kiss from him now, some days.   
Way lay side by side on his bed. Me, unbelievably turned on, and Orochimaru, just being there, teasing and extremely hot.  
“Y-I- I'm not really sure how to go about any of this.” I whispered the admission of my naivety.  
He gave a soft smile, and kissed me. “That's what I'm for.” He slipped his cool, pale hand beneath my waistbands, and grabbed a hold of my semi erect dick.  
“Shit.” I hissed quietly, “Your hands are freezing!”  
“We'll, let me heat them up.” He was such a tease.  
It wasn't long before my crotch and his hand had acclimatized to one another. His hand was simultaneously the worst and best feeling thing in that moment; it was insane to have him touch me so intimately, but he was just holding it, and that just served only to pent me up. He moved, as if to kiss me.  
“Do you want me to keep going?” Orochimaru stopped just before our lips met. I couldn't speak, so I simply nodded. He began to stroke the length of my penis, bringing about a full, and slightly painful, arousal.  
“Fuck.” I muttered under my breath.  
He slid my pants and boxers down, just enough that my dick was out, exposed, for him to see. My face beamed with embarrassment. A rough kiss and then he slid down the bed. Admittedly, I kind of panicked, not sure how to proceed.  
“Oro!” I gasped as I felt his breath, cool on my warm member.   
“Do you want me to stop?” He asked. I didn't answer. In all honesty, I didn't, but I was so nervous about it all at the same time.  
He kept on his course, pushing me over to the edge of the bed to sit, as he slipped onto the floor. He pulled my pants and boxers down, leaving them in a pile around my ankles and positioned himself between my legs. He was driving me crazy. He placed a light kiss on the head, earning a sudden gasp from me.  
“Are you okay?”  
I couldn't bring myself to look him in the face. It had felt so good, the pleasure most likely very obvious on my now extremely flushed face. So he kept going, and he locked his lips around my cock, his mouth so very soft and warm on my sensitive appendage. I lightly gripped his shoulder with one hand as he slowly began to bob up and down.  
“Fuck!” I gave a breathy moan.  
He sped up a little, earning more small moans from me. My other hand now sat gently on the back of his head, enjoying the motion of him as he pleasured me. He got faster and faster, as did my breathing, and cursing. I gripped tighter on his shoulder and wrapped my fingers in his hair.  
“Shit. Orochimaru.” I gasped. I was getting really close, “I-I... I... Stop. I-I don't wanna... in your mouth.” Orochimaru kept going, a fast and steady pace that had me finished in no time. He stopped as I filled his mouth, and all I could do awkwardly try and hold onto him, hug him. Licking his lips as he brought his head up, I wrapped my arms around him, in a proper hug. I needed to hold him. Emotionally, I just needed to.  
Then came an unexpected knock on his bedroom door.  
“Orochimaru?”  
I jumped up, almost kneeing Oro in the face on the way up, and tried to pull my clothes back on as quickly as I could. It was just enough time that my ass was hidden, but anyone walking in on the situation could tell what had been going on.  
This was how I first met Orochimaru's father.  
“Orochimaru, are yo-” He knew. The awkward throat clearing was evidence enough. Terrible first impressions were, and still are, my thing, I'm impossibly brilliant at them. Oro looked like his dad. Same golden eyes and dark hair, but his father had a much more olive skin tone.  
“Hello father, welcome home.” Orochimaru got up off the floor.  
“Yes, thank you, son.” He was obviously in shock by what he had witnessed. “The conference finished early.”  
“I see that.”  
“We seem to have company.”  
“We do.” Orochimaru nudged me, telling me to introduce myself.  
“H-hello, sir.” I'd never been so nervous in my life. “I-I'm Ji-Jiraiya.” I walked closer, well, I say walked, but it was more of an ill-advised stumble, and extended my hand. He took it without hesitation, and gave a strong, tight shake.  
“Hello Jiraiya.” He had the same soft smile. “And how do you know my son?”  
“Er- We- I-” Words did not want to form for me.  
“Where else, father? I know him from school, we've became good friends since he moved here about seven or eight months ago.” Thank the lord Orochimaru intervened.  
“Come downstairs when you're ready, we can chat for a bit.” And he closed the door and walked away.


End file.
